Runaway Princess
by Karly-Ann
Summary: Alanna is the Princess of a small country in Tortall, and her stepmother has betrothed her to a foreign prince. Not wanting to ever marry, Alanna decides to run away - far away. Who knows where she'll end up?


Ok! New fic! Firstly, though, a few notes that will make reading this story much easier.  
  
Alanna's father is alive, and he has re-married, and Alanna's father and stepmother (Semiran) are both the rulers (King & Queen) of a very tiny country in the Northwest corner of Tortall, southwest of the Grimhold Mountains. On the map in the books, the land is shown as Scanran, but I've changed it into a small country named "Laiell" (lie-elle).  
  
2. Thom is a Prince and Alanna is a Princess, and both stayed at their Palace in Laiell and had tutoring there by famous scholars and sorcerers.  
  
Hope that will help you understand this fic better.  
  
~ Chapter One ~  
Betrothed  
  
Princess Alanna of Laiell stood in the middle of the hall, fists clenched and face red, the same colour as her long hair.  
  
"I can't believe you're doing this to me!"  
  
"Darling, you know I hate to do this, don't make it any more difficult," pleaded her stepmother, Semiran, the Queen, in her fake-sugar voice. "You are a princess, and it is your duty to be married."  
  
"To a stranger?" demanded the fiery Alanna. "I don't want to ever get married!"  
  
Semiran's anger began to grow. She'd never really gotten along with her husband's daughter; this was only one of many conflicts between them.  
  
"No one cares what you want!" cried Semiran suddenly. "The sooner you see that, Alanna, the better off you will be!"  
  
Alanna glared furiously at her stepmother, her startling violet eyes cold. She had hated the woman since she'd first laid eyes on her. Semiran was always after her to dress like a lady, act like a lady, do ladies' things. Constantly telling her that she was a Princess and she must do a Princess's duty and that every Princess must be married to a Gods-cursed Prince!  
  
"You can't make me!" Alanna cried stubbornly. "I just won't do it."  
  
Semiran grabbed Alanna's milky-skinned wrist and dug into it with her long nails. "You'll do as I tell you," she whispered icily to Alanna.  
  
Alanna pulled her wrist out of her stepmother's grip and resisted the urge to hit her. "Who says?" she replied rudely. "I do as I please."  
  
"Alanna!"  
  
Alanna whirled to face her father. A large man, normally engrossed in ancient scrolls and books written by famous scholars, the King of Laiell rarely made an appearance unless it was at a social event. Beside him was her identical twin brother, Thom, who came and stood next to her.  
  
"Father," Alanna said, curtsying quickly. "Please, you must understand, you can't send me away..."  
  
"It is you duty as a Princess to this land," her father interrupted her. "You will pack your things."  
  
Alanna opened her mouth to argue, but she felt her brother's hand on her back. "Do as father says," he whispered in her ear. "Don't let it get nasty. Semiran will turn cruel soon."  
  
Alanna sighed and walked out with Thom. As soon as they were out of their father's and Semiran's hearing, Alanna whirled around to face Thom.  
  
"Are you mad?" she demanded. "I'm never going to marry, not in a million years!"  
  
Thom sighed. "I know that, you idiot," he snapped, rubbing his forehead. "But did you really want to see that witch Semiran turn on her innocent- charm with Father?" he demanded.  
  
Alanna blushed. "No, not really," she admitted. "But, nevertheless... I don't want to just be, be married off to some foreign Prince, like I wasn't a person, just a Princess, an object to be owned."  
  
Thom rubbed his head and sighed again. "I know, Alanna, I know, but you might be happy..."  
  
The Princess snorted. "Rather unlikely!" she retorted insolently. "If I were only been born a boy, I could fight, and become a knight and do things I really wanted to do!"  
  
"You think I wanted to have to go through all that training to become a knight at Court? You're kidding, right? I wanted to slay demons, walk with the Gods, leave my body and perform all sorts of brilliant magic. But no, I was the crowned Prince, I had to learn to defend myself, I couldn't become a sorcerer, I had to become a knight." Thom rolled his eyes. "You're life wasn't the only difficult one, you know."  
  
Alanna sat on her bed. Her eyes were itchy. She wasn't normally one to cry, but this was all just too much. "I don't want to leave, Thom," she said. Now her voice was getting choked up. She could feel her eyes filling with salty tears. "I don't want to leave home."  
  
Thom cautiously went to the bed, and tentatively put his arm around his sister. He wasn't used to seeing Alanna like this; she was normally the strong, brave one. He could remember one time when they were out riding, and her horse had been scared by something and had begun to buck. Alanna was thrown off at first, but she immediately flung herself back on the horse to stop it bucking and injuring one of the passer-biers. He himself had just stood there, frozen to the spot. Thom remembered that was the first time he had really respected Alanna as a brave person. That was when they were twelve.  
  
Now seventeen, both the twins had grown and matured, Thom more than Alanna. Thom was engaged to the lovely Lady Fiona, and they were to be wed in the spring. Alanna, whose dislike for men was infamous, had just been told news that morning that she was to be wed to a foreign Prince, and she was to live with him in his homeland.  
  
Alanna's head jerked up from the bed. Her devious violet eyes glimmered. "I know," she said, her voice low and excited. "Oh, I know what I'll do."  
  
Thom eyed his sister with suspicion. He knew his sister well, and he knew that when her eyes shone that way, and when her tone was like that, something was brewing in that wild mind of hers that was likely to be ridiculously outrageous.  
  
Slowly, almost unwillingly, he asked, "What?"  
  
She turned to face him, a mischievous grin on her face. "I'll run away," she said.  
  
Thom shook his head disbelievingly. "Alanna, you can't do that, you silly girl," he said. "That's terrible! Where would you go? How would you survive? You just can't."  
  
"Well I don't seem to have another option, do I?" she yelled. "I'm not getting married, and Semiran refuses to let me stay here, so what am I to do? I'm running away Thom, and that's that."  
  
Alanna stood up and faced her twin eyes for eye. "You can't stop me," she told him.  
  
The twins then heard their Father bellowing for Thom. He looked her square in the eye. "Don't do anything stupid," he advised, and left.  
  
Alanna glared after her twin. He was always telling her what to do! Well, this time it would be different. No one, not Thom, not Semiran, not Father, would have control over her this time.  
  
She sat on her bed and began to think of a plan. She would have to leave at night; it would be far too difficult to leave during the day. She must disguise herself; maybe have to use her magic to conceal her unique hair and eyes... Things must be packed; food must be taken if she wasn't to starve. She would take her jewels and sell them - she had no care for those sorts of material objects. The only jewellery item she would keep is her mother's locket.  
  
Alanna's true mother had died giving birth to Thom and Alanna. The twins had kept their mother at heart with pictures or objects that she'd owned, but as soon as Semiran had stepped into the picture, she'd ordered it all to be burned or locked away. Alanna had salvaged her mother's special locket, though. Inside was a portrait of her mother, and one that Alanna had added of her and Thom.  
  
All these things in mind, Alanna made her way down to the kitchen, careful to be unnoticed. When she got there, she demanded Rochelle, the Head Cook, come to see her.  
  
Rochelle quickly arrived to meet Alanna. "Yes, Lana?" asked Rochelle, using Alanna's nickname.  
  
Alanna was good friends with Rochelle; they met on informal terms and she knew she could trust Rochelle to keep her mouth shut.  
  
"Rochelle, I'm going to run away," she said. The woman raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.  
  
Alanna, not deterred by Rochelle's reaction, continued. "I need some provisions. Bread, soup-balls, some ham and cheese."  
  
Rochelle nodded. "When by?" she asked.  
  
"Tonight, if possible," Alanna answered. "You know why I'm going, don't you?" she asked.  
  
Rochelle nodded. "You could hear Your Highness down in the larder," she laughed. "And that old witch, too. But her yells weren't as loud as yours."  
  
Alanna grinned. "I'm yet to meet one who can match my yells," she joked. On a more serious note, she added, "You can keep your mouth shut, can't you?" she said in a low voice.  
  
Rochelle nodded. "I'll call you when the provisions are ready, Your Highness," she said.  
  
Alanna nodded, and gripped Rochelle's shoulders. "Thanks," she said, and left the kitchens.  
  
~*~  
  
A knock at the door roused Alanna from her light sleep. Glancing out her window, she saw the sun was close to setting. Opening the door cautiously - she couldn't have servants that would blab seeing her packed items - and then smiled as she saw Rochelle there.  
  
"Come in," Alanna said, opening the door wider.  
  
"Thanks," Rochelle said, squeezing her curvy body through the gap.  
  
Alanna shut the door quickly and turned round to meet Rochelle's face. "Sorry. I was just trying to get a little bit of sleep," Alanna apologised.  
  
Rochelle smiled. "That's Ok." She handed Alanna a large calico bag. "Here's the provisions."  
  
Alanna's eyes widened slightly. "So much?" she asked.  
  
Again Rochelle smiled. "I want you to be well-fed, Your Highness. And you never know for how long you'll be gone."  
  
Alanna nodded, and smiled. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she said.  
  
There was a stretch of silence. Suddenly then Rochelle moved forward and gave Alanna a big hug. "Ooh, I'm going to miss you," Rochelle said.  
  
"I'm going to miss you too," Alanna replied.  
  
"Take care."  
  
"I will."  
  
~*~  
  
Ok. Not sure if I'll go on with this one, but if you want I will! It's something a little different. And I assure you the next chapter will go into the plot more, and have a lot more exciting events!!  
  
~*~kaz~*~ 


End file.
